1. It seems everyone has a currency these days; so why not humans in close proximity?
"Unlike typical currencies, which aim to represent and store value, LazyCoin is a store for non-value: you produce LazyCoin by doing nothing. LazyCoin is also an inversion of the BitCoin protocol: the currency is physical and can only be generated by two or more humans in close proximity, in accordance with protocol that we outline in our white paper. We were inspired by Melville’s Bartleby – it’s a currency that 'would prefer not to.'"
2. Alexandra Lange argues 3D printers have a lot to learn from sewing machines.
"So far, 3D printing's DIY aspects seem more akin to the 'magic' of an ant farm, watching growth behind glass. Sewing lets the maker find their own materials, and get involved with every aspect of the process. 3D printing could do this, and there are classes, but even at the Makerbot showroom the primary interaction seemed to be ordering from Thingiverse. My local sewing shop has to teach more women to sew to survive; I don't see the printer makers coming to the same conclusion."
3. EMOJI FORTUNES.
"Coder Luke Karrys created a little emoji-fortune generator, because why not? Each fortune comes with a textual explanation, but you should definitely feel free to interpret your fortune as you see fit.
Once you get your fortune, you can either share it on Twitter or keep going until you get one that truly speaks to you. But really, they should all speak to you."
4. The title of this article is Holy bonsai wolves: Chihuahuas and the Paris Hilton syndrome.
"This article examines the reasons for the Chihuahua breed’s popularity in contemporary western society by looking at two sets of data: Chihuahua handbooks and The Simple Life show, starring Paris Hilton and her Chihuahua Tinkerbell. The article argues that the Chihuahua is a holy anomaly: a creature which can be used in myths and rituals to temporarily alleviate the tension-filled binary oppositions and stereotypes inherent in a particular culture, in order to celebrate and reinforce that culture’s categories and social order. The Chihuahua – or the bonsai wolf – transcends two binary oppositions fundamental to contemporary westerners: subject/object and nature/culture."
5. The Authors Alliance: A newly launched authors' organization.
"I think the Authors Guild does a great job representing the interests of the authors who subscribe to it. My experiences on the Authors Guild v. Google and the Authors Guid v. HathiTrust cases have led me to believe that as well-intentioned as they are in representing vigorously their members, they hold themselves out as though they represent the interests of all authors, and in my humble opinion, they don’t. When it comes to something like the AG v. HathiTrust, the members of our organization are likely to think that it was a good thing that Google scanned books from research library collections and made snippets available because more people know that our books exist; more people are likely to check them out of a library, look them up online if they are available, or even buy the books."
Today's 1957 American English Usage Tip:
biceps, triceps. If plurals are wanted, it is best to say -cepses, the regular English formation; not -cipites (the true Latin), because it is too cumbrous, nor -ceps, which is a mere blunder.
Please use this information to correct the know-nothings at the gym. (Actually no. Don't do that.)
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